United Against Gender-based Violence
Beginning November 25 and lasting through December 10, International Medical Corps joined the international community for the global campaign, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV).
Gender-based violence is a prevalent public health and human rights problem, affecting the physical and psychological health of survivors, as well as the health and well-being of families and communities. Women and girls are especially vulnerable to violence in emergency settings, when risks are combined to the interruption of support systems. We work with communities to address these risks and to combat beliefs and practices that perpetuate violence against women and girls.
“An estimated 1 in 3 women will face physical, mental, or sexual abuse in their lifetimes.”
Our teams from Cameroon to Syria marked the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. Take a look back at the celebrations.
Cameroon
Our GBV teams in Cameroon, in collaboration with refugee leaders and community leaders, successfully launched 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence across seven sites. In all seven sites, the ceremonies began with well-organized and peaceful marches. The participants showed awareness of the impact of conflict on women. The marches were followed by dances, sketches and other activities. At the end of ceremonies, a community meal was served to all the participants. The launch activities for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence reached some 9,000 people across all seven sites.
Read more about the celebrations in Cameroon here.
Ukraine
In honor of the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV, one of our Protection Caseworkers in Mariupol, Liubov Fedorova, shared with us what she wants to achieve through her work: “No violence against women. Sometimes we don’t notice it because it has many types, we always notice something big like physical or sexual. But we don’t notice emotional or psychological abuse. In our (Ukrainian) society it can be so normalized and people don’t realize that their rights are being offended. My goal is to open their eyes to these issues, what they can do to combat it and help people to fight for their rights and end violence. Part of this includes gender equality. Here in Ukraine there is large inequality. So overall, gender equality is the target for ending violence.”
Our teams in Ukraine implement gender-based violence prevention and response activities for women and girls living close to the Line of Contact. We provide youth and older people, including women and men, with opportunities to engage in recreational activities, learn about the dynamics of gender-based violence, and share approaches to address such issues and talk about their concerns.
Pakistan
We’ve been addressing gender-based violence (GBV) in Pakistan since 2008 and we’re the first organization to fight GBV with a comprehensive community-based strategy in refugee villages in Khyber Paktunkhwa (KP) Province. Today, we are assisting around 300,000 Afghan refugees in 14 villages across KP Province.
During the celebrations surrounding 16 Days of Activism, our teams organized various events which gave participants a forum to discuss the importance of raising awareness around GBV and how to better share these messages with the community.
Another event was organized for adolescent boys and girls where speakers highlighted the importance of education for boys and girls within the Afghan refugee community.
Nigeria
In Nigeria, we work to prevent and respond to cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in four local government areas of Borno State, reaching more than 30,000 people. In providing psychosocial support to survivors, we use women-friendly spaces as an avenue to provide services and case management to survivors of GBV.
On November 25, our team in Nigeria launched the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based violence. An event was held where speakers shared information on gender-based violence and its effects in the community. Attendees included beneficiaries from our women friendly spaces of the Gubio and Bakassi internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, and from the Shehuri and Tamsungamdua host communities. The beneficiaries displayed finished products from their handicraft activities.
At the end of the event, all the participants and dignitaries present signed a flag in order to demonstrate the shared commitment to end gender-based violence in their communities.
South Sudan
On November 25, our team in Wau, South Sudan launched the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence with celebrations throughout the community.
Mali
In Mali, we work in health facilities in Gourma-Rharous and Timbuktu districts, providing confidential and compassionate clinical and psychosocial care to GBV survivors. We also work with communities to train community volunteers and local health staff and design referral paths to other relevant services.
Djeinam, one of our psychosocial trainers based in Timbuktu, has been working in the area of women’s protection for the past 3 years. She believes in the importance of education and training in order to tackle gender-based violence in Mali. Through community training sessions she’s held she teaches people the consequences of gender-based violence on girls and women and on society in general.
Syria
We’re working to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) in Syria. This includes case management for survivors of GBV as well as running awareness-raising campaigns in displacement shelters and health care clinics. We also train first responders to better respond to child protection and GBV issues in their day-to-day work.
During the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence our team in Damascus shared their support to the global campaign by sharing messages against gender-based violence and in favor of gender equality in education.
Our staff held training sessions about gender-based violence and its consequences with young community members.
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